Ever After: Kristina Oderinde & Curtis Eakins

Native Chicagoans and DePaul University grads Kristina Oderinde and Curtis Eakins will never forget their Dec. 8 wedding date: It was the five-year anniversary of their first date after meeting on OkCupid. In November 2017, Eakins, a 36-year-old application support analyst at JPMorgan Chase, planned a surprise proposal by tucking the ring box into their Christmas tree. “Once she opened the box and we finally got past the ugly cry, I had to get down on one knee and ask her to actually get the answer out of her,” Eakins says.

A dear friend married them beneath an arch of snow-white branches and blooms at Room 1520 (520 W. Fulton, room1520.com). The venue “had a lot of that glamour that I like, with chandeliers and beautiful accent furniture, but I thought it was great with Curt’s style, which is more simplistic and a little rustic with brick [walls],” says Oderinde, 35, who works as associate director of human resources at KPMG. The bride’s dramatically long veil was handmade by her mother. “I wanted Meghan Markle length!” Oderinde says.